Fires - Colorado & Utah (June 24 -26)

We left Grand Mesa on Sunday, June 24 and stopped for breakfast at the Dream Café in downtown Grand Junction.  The downtown area was well preserved and revitalized into a fun tourist area.  The Colorado and Gunnison rivers join together right there in downtown Grand Junction (thus the name…)

The Dream Café is renowned for its Eggs Benedict and wonderful Cinnamon Roll French Toast.  We sampled both and were tempted by the 6 different kinds of ‘Mimosas,’ including a Red Bull Mimosa – orange juice, champagne & Red Bull (a little scary).  But we opted for a sober, calm drive instead.

We intended to head about 200 miles for Scofield State Park in central Utah.  But again we ran into fires as we had in New Mexico and Colorado.  Scofield State Park was on a lake and there weren’t many trees.  It was hot and the skies were filled with smoke, so we opted to head on and finally ended up in a KOA campground in Salt Lake City.  What a long and exhausting day!

The KOA was really very nice.  It was 14 blocks from downtown and the Salt Lake City Temple. It was hot in Salt Lake (96) and the air quality was poor because of the fires. For the first time, we slept with the air conditioner on in our RV.  I was already missing those 50 degree mountain nights with sweet air…

Our campground had many trees, a swimming pool, jacuzzi, laundry, store and car wash.  We spent the next morning doing laundry and washing our car and RV because the first two weeks of our journey had made us all a little dirty.  Even Maya got a bath.

We only spent one night in Salt Lake and Monday went on to Logan, Utah, hoping to escape the heat and fires.  Logan was a little cooler during the day and the nights dropped down into the low 60s so that made it much nicer.  Also, there was no smoke in the air.

The west is so dry.  It is sad to see so many of the western states in drought and in extreme fire danger.   Avoiding fires may be part of our adventure as we travel this summer.

Grand Mesa - Jumbo Campground

We moved to Jumbo Campground at Mesa Lakes for our last 3 nights on Grand Mesa.  There were many trails in the area and we hiked the Lost Lake Trail and also the West Bench Trail to the top of Powderhorn Ski Area.  Both trails were gorgeous with many stands of Aspen among the spruce and subapline fur.

David at the top of Powderhorn - Yoo Hoo!

We also drove out to ‘Land’s End,’ the point at the end of the Grand Mesa.  It was very windy that day at Land’s End and we did feel like we were about to ‘fly’ off the edge of the world.

Our last day we hiked the Deep Creek Trail from the Mesa Lakes Trailhead out towards the rim of the Mesa (Land’s End).  David thought the wind gusts were near 50 mph.  We became weary of the wind as the day went on, but not Maya who thought it was grand fun.

What a wonderful respite from the heat and fires!  Our stay on Grand Mesa was perfect.  (Except for the mosquitos, but that is what DEET is for...) 

The First Day of Summer - Maya's First Snow

It was the first day of summer that we hiked the Crag Crest Trail. Near the top there were patches of snow. What a treat to find snow to play in on the first day of summer!  Maya wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first but then decided it was good to eat.

 

Crag Crest Trail

While in staying at Island Lake we hiked a nearby trail, the Crag Crest Trail, which is also a National Recreation Trail.  It is a 10.3 mile long loop that climbs from 10,150 feet to 11,189 at the top of the mesa.  Portions of the trail have steep drop offs on both sides.  There was one small area that was a bit scary as part of the trail had collapsed and footing was precarious. Fortunately for David and I, neither one of us have issues with high places.  And was it worth it!  Some of the most beautiful views I’ve seen.

Wolverine Lake from the Crag Crest Trail

The Crag Crest Trail was also awash with beautiful blooming Columbines. There were places that they were growing almost out of rock! 

Grand Mesa

The Grand Mesa is just what it says it is – this huge expanse of land that rises from the plains.  Coming up from the plains below, it looks like a huge flat iron. It was formed when basaltic lava capped a low area but then the softer rock around eroded and left the hard mesa intact.  Once on top (over 10,000 feet in most places) the mesa is heavily forested and it is not that flat.  And big surprise, there are lakes everywhere!  Big ones, little ones, deep ones and some that were not a lot bigger than puddles, but over 300 hundred of them are on the Mesa.

It was so cool and magnificent that we decided to stay several days.  Our first two nights were at Island Lake Campground.  It was a small campground nestled at one end of one of the larger lakes.  So unbelievably quiet and incredibly dark and starry skies.

Island Lake - campground nestled in trees near lower right edge of lake.

Grand Mesa National Forest, Colorado (June 19 - 23)

We left Pagosa Springs early on Tuesday morning and headed to Durango, Colorado. The drive was very smokey and even a little frightening when the visibility became so bad that for a while that we couldn’t tell we were in the mountains anymore.

Very gratefully we arrived in Durango about 9 am leaving the smoke behind and immediately headed for breakfast at the Durango Diner.  Very yummy and fun atmosphere.  We sat at the bar and watched the cook make our breakfast.

Huevos Rancheros and Biscuits with 1/2  sausage gravy and 1/2 green chili gravy.

After breakfast we drove through some gorgeous mountain passes on scenic Colorado Highway 550 to Silverton and Ouray then down in the valley to Montrose (where the road became highway 50 to Delta.)  Fantastic drive!  From Delta we drove Highway 65 onto the Grand Mesa.

Pagosa Springs, Colorado (June 17 & 18)

Sunday morning, June 17, we left the Santa National Forest and headed for Pagosa Springs, Colorado.  It was mid-afternoon when we arrived and it was 90 degrees and smokey. Pagosa Springs was also experiencing fire – just 13 miles northwest of Pagosa, the Little Sand Fire was burning. 

Pagosa is very clean. The hot springs are amazing. $13 for a day pass at the springs or you can buy a week pass – very reasonable and many other ‘spa’ services are available. 

Monday the smoke was even worse and so was the heat. We opted not to do any hiking and instead just enjoy the town of Pagosa, do laundry, grocery shop and catch up on internet activities.  After a full day we ate at a very nice restaurant, The Alley House Grill.  David had a delicious roasted pork chop in a mushroom sauce and I had Thai Chicken.

If it hadn’t been so smokey and hot, we would have stayed longer.

Little Sand Fire from Pagosa Springs

Hiking in the Pecos Wilderness

David and I used to backpack in the Pecos Wilderness (Santa Fe National Forest) in our 20's and 30's.  But life got busy and we just stopped coming.  It has been so nice to be hiking in the Pecos again. One of our favorite hikes was up to Spirit Lake - 13 miles.  The trail ranged from 10,300 to 11,400 feet.  It was a very long hike and the lake was a welcome site for Maya who took a swim.

Spirit Lake Swim

Windsor Trail, Pecos Wilderness, NM

Figuring out the important stuff: Food

It was good we stayed in the Santa Fe Forest a week.  We learned so much about our RV - cooking, space limitations, food storage.  We are finding that we have to shop a little more often as we don't have a lot of room to 'stock up' on staples.  As a consequence, we are eating fresher foods.  But it takes more time than I thought to shop and prepare meals.  We do have a little freezer and that is going to come in handy.  Although space is limited - compared to a tent this is heaven...

David cooking his first meal in the RV

June 12th was our 35th Anniversary.  We went into Santa Fe and had a fantastic dinner at the Pink Adobe.

Margaritas are wonderful things!

We aren't always cooking. We have been investigating 'Road Food' along the way.  When in Santa Fe, you must check out "Bobcat Bite."  Pretty amazing green chili cheeseburgers!

Bobcat Bite - Aren't New Mexico skies incredible?

On the road at last - near Santa Fe, NM

We found our first campsite at Hyde Memorial State Park north of Santa Fe on the ski run road.  The campground was at 8,500 feet – aspens, douglas firs, blue spruce – very beautiful and cool temperatures (50’s night & 70's day).

 

Our campsite in the Aspens



It was so beautiful at our campground and so few people that we decided to stay a week. We needed to relax after a hectic couple of months. But being remote had it’s disadvantages too – no water, phone or internet. So we caught up on our rest, made some new friends and did a lot of hiking in the Pecos Wilderness.

Maya and David relaxing

Maya's new friend Oso, a great Pyrenees

 

Hurry up and wait

After saying goodbye to so many dear friends we left San Antonio on May 18 heading for Odessa, TX where my parents live and where we were storing our furniture.

Things went slower in Odessa than anticipated.  Getting all of our belongings in storage, waiting for final bills to come and all the business things necessary to make a new life on the road took several weeks.  But during the waiting time we took a quick trip to Ruidoso, NM.  My parents have had a cabin in Ruidoso for over 25 years and we have spent many a vacation there hiking in the White Mountain Wilderness.

David & Maya on Crest Trail near Sierra Blanca in White Mountain Wilderness

Just a week after we returned to Odessa the Little Bear Fire started near Ruidoso by lightning strike and much of our beloved White Mountain Wilderness burned.  Over 300 houses were destroyed but my parent’s cabin is safe, so far.  It was a good thing that we hiked some of our favorite trails as it may be many years before the forest returns.

Another week in Odessa and business was in order enough for us to leave.  On Sunday, June 10 we said goodbye to family and headed out for Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Goodbye friends & family.  See you in November...

And so it begins...

The RV has arrived, the house sold quickly and the U-Haul is loaded.  Ready or not the adventure begins.

We got it all in!